219 There’s Something Behind the Waterfall
w.a.n.g Wulang indeed remembered Old Madam w.a.n.g’s words and did not bring the children too far. Everyone only went up the mountain and took a few steps.
During the harvest season, other than a good harvest of grain, all kinds of wild fruits would be ripe. The wild flowers from back then had now turned into plump fruits which hung on the branches.
“Ah Yu, we saved these for you!” A boy sniffed and said as if he was presenting a treasure.
Usually, when they went to the mountains to pluck fruits, the adults would not take too much. They said that the rest were for Ah Yu to eat when she returned.
Everyone knew that Little Ah Yu liked to eat fruits, so every time those people pa.s.sed by would help. Those who could pluck the weeds would pluck weeds, and those who could fertilize the plants would also help.
Therefore, the wild fruits around Hu Family Village always grew especially well. They were only slightly worse than the wild fruits that had been drenched by the “Divine Rain” back then.
The adults liked Little Ah Yu and would help to keep things for her. The children were used to it because Little Ah Yu usually gave them more food than the adults.
w.a.n.g Dalang, who was in the village, sometimes saw those children looking at the wild fruits eagerly. He would also pick some wild fruits from the ground and distribute them to them.
He was worried that these children would feel that life is biased and hate Ah Yu.
“Ah Yu, put down the Spirit Treasure Rat,” w.a.n.g Wulang said to Little Ah Yu.
The rat had come to an unfamiliar environment and was a little vigilant, not daring to come down for a long time.
The little lamb was impatient. It bleated twice, and the rat jumped down from Little Ah Yu’s shoulder as if it had seen a cat.
The Spirit Treasure Rat stood on the ground in confusion.
It was surrounded by a group of children.
“Why isn’t it moving?”
“Is it because there aren’t any treasures here that it can’t be found?”
“It’s just an ordinary rat.”
The children spoke one after another, their eyes filled with confusion.
w.a.n.g Wulang coughed and felt a little embarra.s.sed.
What was going on with this Spirit Treasure Rat? Was there really no treasure around their village?
“Ah Yu, can you get it to find the treasure?” w.a.n.g Wulang was not sure if Little Ah Yu could command the other party.
Little Ah Yu squatted down and stroked the head of the Spirit Treasure Rat before whispering, “Little Rat, can you help?”
The rat nudged its head left and right, enjoying Little Ah Yu’s touch.
But it did not move.
The lamb stepped forward and pushed its head over.
The Spirit Treasure Rat quickly escaped and squeaked. After walking for a while, it turned to look at Little Ah Yu and squeaked again.
“Is it telling us to follow?” w.a.n.g Wulang sensed something.
Hence, the children followed the rat forward.
They crawled around in the gra.s.s. At first, they remembered not to go too far, but they forgot about it later.
Hence, they walked further and further away and only heard the sound of water.
“Aiya, we’ve come all the way here!” w.a.n.g Wulang’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the waterfall in front of him.
Oh no, they were too far from home. The mountain range behind them connected two countries. The area in the middle was no man’s land. The children usually did not dare to go this deep into the mountains.
Especially this waterfall. It was akin to a cordon. The path stops a little beyond the waterfall.
Therefore, no matter how far the children ran off to play, as long as they heard the sound of water, they had to return immediately because this meant that they were already very far from home.
The Spirit Treasure Rat stopped in front of the waterfall and stuck its head towards it, looking a little anxious.
In order to see the Spirit Treasure Rat’s ability, the other children forgot about their fatigue and followed with suppressed breaths.
By now, they were all tired.
There were more than 10 children in total, and three were little girls.
The little girls were still trying to stay strong and did not speak, but the little boys fell to the ground and cried, wanting to go home.
“There’s no treasure. There’s nothing. I want to go home. I want to look for Mother!”
“I’m so hungry, I’m so tired. I want to sleep!”
“Wuwuwu, Mother, I’m lost. I can’t go home…”
w.a.n.g Wulang immediately felt a headache coming on.
“Alright, stop crying!” w.a.n.g Wulang sighed. What was going on? “I’ll go find food for you.”
He did not dare to walk too far. Fortunately, there were many aquatic fruits growing by the waterfall. They were all yellow and tasted only a little sour.
The children were hungry and couldn’t care less.
The Spirit Treasure Rat was still trying to go to the waterfall.
Little Ah Yu was a little puzzled. Could there be something in this waterfall?
“Little Rat, are you alright?” Little Ah Yu wanted to comfort the rat.
She did not think that the Spirit Treasure Rat could really find treasures, but it was quite fun to follow it.
It was just that without the reminder of the elf, Little Ah Yu did not know that she had wandered too far from home.
At the thought of the elf, Little Ah Yu felt sad. The elf probably didn’t want her anymore.
“Baa!” Before Little Ah Yu could approach the Spirit Treasure Rat, the lamb beside her suddenly seemed to have been agitated. It shouted and dug its hind hooves on the ground.
Then, it borrowed the force and rushed into the waterfall in front of the children.
“Little lamb!” Little Ah Yu was frightened and shouted.
However, the lamb disappeared like a drop of water into the waterfall.
“Where’s the lamb?”
“Why didn’t I see it?”
“Did it fall into the water?”
“I didn’t see anything!”
The children could not be bothered to complain about hunger or fatigue. They all wanted to approach the waterfall to take a look.
The waterfall was huge. They were on a central platform, and there was more than a hundred feet distance to the bottom.
w.a.n.g Wulang pulled them back one by one.
“Are you tired of living! None of you will survive if you fall in!”
w.a.n.g Wulang was not considered old, but even he was still afraid of the surging waterfall.
If these children fell into the water, he did not dare to save them.
Now, w.a.n.g Wulang felt that he had a huge responsibility. If anything happened to any of the children here, he would be beaten up when he returned.
Now that the lamb had disappeared again, w.a.n.g Wulang felt even more terrified.
The lamb was very powerful and could even control snakes. Therefore, although w.a.n.g Wulang felt some regret, he was not too worried about it.
Now that there was no longer the little sheep protecting them, w.a.n.g Wulang only wanted to pull these kids back quickly. As for treasure hunting and exploration, he did not want to do it anymore.
“Hua-!”
“Baa ~ ~ ~”
As he was thinking, there was a sudden movement in the waterfall, and the lamb emerged from the water.
It stood perilously on a rock and barely stabilized itself.
The drenched lamb shook its fur with all its might before walking towards Little Ah Yu.
Little Ah Yu realized that there was something hanging around the lamb’s neck.
It looked like a collar. It was dark and covered in a thick layer of rust.
“What is this?” Little Ah Yu hurriedly took it down from the lamb.
Everyone looked at the thing curiously. Only w.a.n.g Wulang looked at the waterfall thoughtfully.
There was actually an empty s.p.a.ce behind the waterfall. Could this be the treasure?
w.a.n.g Wulang felt his heart thumping, as if he had discovered a huge secret.
No, he had to tell Grandma about this!
They had to go back quickly!
At this moment, a group of people suddenly walked over. They looked up and saw a group of children on the path above the waterfall.
w.a.n.g Wulang also lowered his head and met the eyes of the people below.